Praetorian Series [4] All Roads Lead to Rome (65 page)

Once I’d taken in my full of the city, I held out my arm to Vespasian, and waited for him to shake it.  When he did, we shook quickly before letting go, and then I tentatively offered it to Galba, who was equally hesitant before gripping my arm tightly and offering me a curt shake.  I nodded at them both, finding myself slightly more content with the manner in which I was leaving this wretched place than I was ten minutes ago.

I took in a deep breath through my nose and let it out slowly, lifting my head to the heavens as I noticed the rain start to pick up again.  I lowered it and looked back at the pair of Romans.

“Do you mind if we say our goodbyes and be on our way?”

“Certainly not,” Vespasian said, taking a step back and waving a hand in a polite gesture.

That was all the incentive everyone needed.  Handshakes, backslaps, bear hugs, and kisses were exchanged in rapid succession, some lingering longer than others, some quick and to the point, but each and every one a loving gesture between friends who had been through so much together.  Even Stryker and Brewster, relative newcomers to all this, had been with us nearly a year at this point, and had found their places among the group with relative ease.  I knew Santino and Wang would miss Stryker in particular, and I’d always found Brewster especially pleasant and companionable.  Her fun nature and efficiency had always been traits I appreciated more than Stryker’s bravado that had fit in so well with Wang and Santino.

I embraced her warmly, giving her a smile and a quick pat on the shoulder before giving Stryker a quick, but meaningful backslap.  I moved onto Bordeaux and embraced him as well, no easy feat considering his frame.  I pulled back and offered him one final questioning look.  “You sure this is what you want?  Not going to miss your beloved France too much?”

He smiled.  “What is your American saying?  Home is where the heart is?”

I nodded knowingly.  “It certainly is.  Take care of yourself, you big softie.  I’ll see what I can do about visiting.  Maybe bring some fine vintage wine with me.”

His eyes widened.  “You won’t forget the wine?”

I chuckled.  “I’ll do my best.”

I couldn’t think of anything else to say, but was saved any awkwardness when Helena stepped in, letting Bordeaux wrap her up in a big hug, one that lingered far longer than my own.  I stepped away, letting them say goodbye in private, before finding Gaius and Marcus.  They were just finishing up their farewell to Wang when I stepped up to them, offering each of them my arm in turn.  I shook with each of them, and stepped back, crossing my arms.

I raised my eyebrows at them and flicked my head to the side in a chiding manner.  “Last chance, fellas.  Join the army, they said.  See the world, they said.  Well… here’s your chance to see
another
world.  One that’s a hell of a lot bigger than this one.”

“It is a tempting offer, Jacob,” Gaius said glumly, “but we are dedicated to our responsibilities here.  Nothing would give us greater joy than to see your world, but even you, yourself, have voiced concerns over the possibility.”

I nodded my head reluctantly.  “I suppose I have.”

“But,” Marcus cut in, “that does not imply that we would be against visiting, should you return one day with a… better grasp of the orbs’ nature and how to operate them.”

I smirked.  “Jackass… you’re just afraid.”

He shrugged.  “I do not even enjoy swimming.  I am unsure how I would take to traveling through history.”

“Well, I certainly won’t judge you for that,” I said.

“To be serious, Jacob,” Gaius said. “We would take great pleasure seeing all of you again.  If you can find an opportunity to return, please do.  We shall be here.”

I looked at them for a moment, letting it linger, hoping to memorialize this moment for decades to come, but it wasn’t long before I turned away, finding Felix immediately.  He grew excited at my approach, and I laughed at his good nature, stroking his soaked mane to calm him.  When he was settled, I continued to pat him.

“Ready to become the first time traveling horse?”  I asked.

For half a moment, I was ready to hear him respond, just as he would often do months ago.  It was a painful memory, one that constantly poked at my vulnerabilities and apprehensions, but it seemed I really was sane again, as Felix simply jerked his head in a manner completely unrelated to my question and remained silent.

At least, I assumed it was unrelated.

Helena stepped up beside me a moment later, and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“I think we’re ready, Jacob,” she said supportively.  “Take your time.”

I looked into her always supportive eyes.  “No time like the present.”

She smiled and we turned to face all those present.  Gaius, Marcus, Stryker, Brewster, Bordeaux, Vespasian, and Galba had all backed away, leaving only Helena, Wang, Santino, Felix, and myself near our gear containers, and I was immediately struck with the realization of just how few of us were returning.  While Cuyler and Titus were already on their ways home, I was again reminded of those who hadn’t made it: Archer, Vincent, the son Helena and I had lost, my Roman ancestor Varus, and our old commander, Dillon McDougal.  The ancient Roman Empire would be their final resting place.  Each of their deaths still weighed on my heart, a few more heavily than the others, but I’d find no solace in their loss by remaining in Rome any longer, nor would I be capable of working toward redemption or penance here either.

And then there was Diana, my sister. Lost in time, space, dimension, wherever.  Maybe dead, hopefully alive, I couldn’t let go of the idea that she was still out there.  I had no way of affecting a meaningful rescue effort, nor could I simply expect her to show up at any moment, but… still.  There was always the possibility that she would do just that, and it was that possibility that continuously filled me with hope.

That thought in mind, I lifted a chin in Galba’s direction.  “If my sister shows up, tell her we went home.”

He looked at me quizzically, having recently been made aware of what had happened to her but still not totally understanding the specifics.  After a moment, he seemed to understand something of what I had suggested, and nodded.  “She was certainly more pleasing than you ever were.  I shall inform her.”

“Thanks, “I said.

I huffed a quick breath, preparing myself for what would happen next.  Turning my head to Santino and Wang to my right, I tilted my head at them.  “Ready?”

They both nodded, their expressions and body posture poised, battle ready almost.  It was an appropriate reaction.  I looked to my left and at Helena.  “Ready?”

She reached out and rolled up my shirtsleeve, gripping my arm tightly with her right hand.  “As long as we’re together.”

“Always,” I said, steeling my face as I reached down to retrieve the orbs.

Finding them was easy, taking them into my hands even simpler, but even though I’d done this a number of times now, I had no way of knowing what to truly expect in the next few seconds.  I looked into their swirling physical forms as I’d done dozens and dozens of times, finding comfort in their dichotomous but twin appearances.  With another quick breath, I looked right and left as I spoke.

“Everyone take hold of whatever you want to bring with you.  James, take my arm.  John, take his.  Take hold of our containers and someone hold onto Felix.”

“I’ve got him, Jacob,” Helena assured.

“Good,” I said.  “I’m still not sure how these things work, but skin contact seems to make sense.”

“Wait!”  Santino exclaimed, and I snapped my head around in sudden panic.  “If skin contact is all that’s required, how come I won’t leave my boots behind?  I’m wearing socks!  My boots aren’t even touching skin!”

“Probably because of all the holes in them,” Wang suggested.

“Oh,” Santino uttered.  “Good point.  Carry on then.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, although Santino had raised an excellent point.  If I were touching a tree, or the planet Earth in general, would all of the world be transported through the orbs?  I hadn’t a clue, but I certainly wasn’t about to test the theory.  I was willing to just leave it as magic and move on.  Arthur C. Clarke was more than just a brilliant author, but a true prognosticator, because this kind of technology truly was indiscernible from magic – but technology it still was.

But now wasn’t the time for my last internal digression in Ancient Rome.  Now was the time to concentrate, but first, one last goodbye.  I placed the orbs in the crook of my left arm so that I could raise my right in a quick wave.  It was all I could do, as all the possible combinations of words I could utter to say farewell were suddenly lost to me.  I was amazed at how sad I felt in this moment.  Looking at the faces of all my friends I’d be leaving behind was harder than I ever thought it would be, especially as they waved back.

But then Helena squeezed my arm, not roughly or demandingly, but lovingly, reminding me that it was time to go home.

With one last look at each of them, I finally settled on Vespasian and Galba.  “Remember what I told you,” I said.  “Govern.  Don’t rule.  Be good to the people.  Be strong militarily.  Set an example for the senate.  Think ahead not backward.  Do what needs to be done, but do it from a good place in your hearts and heads.  And take care of Nero.  The kid deserves it.”

“We shall,” Vespasian assured.  “May the gods watch over you in your travels.”

I nodded one last time before closing my eyes and setting my thoughts to activating the orbs.  It seemed even easier this time.  Like flicking on a brand new computer, within seconds I could
sense
the Multiverse as easily as I could see a computer screen.  Unlike the first few times, when the experience had been a jumbled, confusing mess, everything was laid out before me like a cosmic roadmap.

Merlin had been right about my mind making sense of it all on its own.

It seemed I had something of a system now.

It all started with seeing this hunk of land as it was now: ancient, old, pristine, Roman, with all of us present.  I was viewing it from some fifth party perspective, like a drone flying overhead spying on us.  We were in this timeline, this reality, this dimension, and then I started to think of tomorrow and the scene cleared.  It was just empty space.  Ever so slowly, I hit the mental fast forward button and the scene started shifting in rapid succession.  Days turned to nights, days and nights blurred together, seasons changed, years passed, decades.  It was all almost too much to process, my subconscious mind still somehow drinking it all in like it was a movie with the fast forward button set to its maximum speed.

Intuitively, I ceased this momentum, understanding that I was now, in fact, viewing this timeline’s future, and I had no desire to do that.  I’d already forgotten much of what I’d seen, if I’d understood any of it at all, and I felt my desire shifting now toward the red orb, feeling it out, placing the blue orb on the back burner while I focused on finding the reality we’d left seven years ago.

Again, it was almost too easy.  It was as though the timelines were simply stacked next to each other in an endless rolodex, and it was as easy as flipping through them to find the one I was searching for.  And it even made a certain amount of sense that our timeline was only a few over to the right, since I’d only create just a couple myself.  Of course the original one would be nearby, and it I knew what I was looking for immediately.  Like when I’d dropped off Cuyler, it simply felt right.  It was an instinctual, primal feeling, one that assured me I’d found not necessarily “home”, but the timeline I wanted to journey to. 

Since beginning the process, my heart hadn’t yet had an opportunity to beat.

Now that I’d found our timeline, it was again as simple as pressing that fast forward button to its maximum setting.  Rome changed in my mind at rapid speed, exponentially faster than the fastest time lapse camera back home.  Buildings fell, buildings sprang up.  Neighborhoods changed and blurs of motion sped through the scenery.  Unfamiliar sights filled my mind until exactly what I was looking for finally sprang into sight: St. Peter’s Basilica.

I lowered the speed, letting it coast, but before I knew it, my mind sensed that I’d found the date of our original departure.  It was now July 22, 2021 at 3:30 in the morning, and it would be as simple as saying, “engage” for me to transition us to this point in time.

But I didn’t.

We’d discussed this.

No one wanted to return home on the date we’d arrived.  We’d been gone nearly seven years.  It didn’t seem fair to return on the day we’d left.  There was also the question that World War III was still in full bloom, and something I’d seen during the time Remus had first instructed me on how to operate the orbs that had given me an idea. 

It had been the tourists. 

The scores upon scores of tourists.

When I’d arrived in Rome to take up a position as a member of the Pope’s Praetorian Guard, tourism, while still a thing, had been at an all-time low all over the world.  Very few ventured from their homes, for a million safety-related reasons.  But I’d seen thousands of happy tourists that day.  It had a been a bright, sunny, cheerful day with so many individuals touring the ancient Roman ruins that I hadn’t believed what I was seeing.  More importantly, Remus had said that I’d overshot my intended time.  I’d gone into the future.  I’d gone past 2021.